


The Moonshine Marshalls

by Kearatheshadow



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Prohibition Era, Bootlegging, M/M, Moonshine, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Supernatural Elements, Warnings May Change, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-12 05:40:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18004886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kearatheshadow/pseuds/Kearatheshadow
Summary: When Lee met Theodore Marshall, all he expected to get was a client, but what he got was an oddball family with the best moonshine this side of the Mississippi, and a lover who gave new meaning to "puppy-dog eyes."A long time ago Lee found that all it took for him to be a bootlegger was to know when to talk, when to shoot, and when to run- but he wasn't running from this, because he'd finally found a family, and he was going to protect them with everything he had.





	The Moonshine Marshalls

**Author's Note:**

> I literally got drunk and decided to mash all my favorite things together so here's the start of a very self-indulgent prohibition-era werewolf romance.

Lee didn’t meet with his suppliers often. The dirt paths turned wagon roads made it difficult to navigate and even harder to avoid undercover cops, and Lee had to rely on his boss’s inside man on the force to know where the hotspots were. 

It didn’t sit right with him to rely on the word of a mole, but when a man was a bootlegger, he had to sit tight and put up with all sorts of unsavory things. It was part of the job.

He turned off the main road onto an even rockier path, and let the Tin Lizzie roll to a stop a few yards down, the property line only marked by two tree stumps on either side of the path. Dark clouds pushed in from the West, threatening rain. Lee stared down the darkened path as the sun crept below the treeline and the clouds overtook him, and he waited. 

A howl rang out, and Lee let it wash over him for a second before he put the car back in gear as a large shape emerged from the shadows. The wolf raised its head and stared him down before turning and breaking into a trot, leading him to the family farm. 

The farm was nestled in the forest, their property a significant amount of acres, but the family had carved out enough for a house and barn and field for crops, a hundred yards away from a narrow river bend. The ground was a little too rocky to be good soil, but somehow they still managed to produce crops. 

It was odd, but many things about the Marshalls were odd. 

He parked on the treeline, out of the way and a decent walk to the house, which made the wolf snort as she watched him. 

Lee grabbed the papers that he’d brought, and by the time he’d gotten out, his escort had turned into a young woman, long brown hair tangled and nude body splattered in mud. 

He nodded, setting his eyes firmly on the distant lights coming from the house. “Evening Miss Thelma.” 

They matched pace with each other as they started the long walk. “Lee,” she replied, amused. “Don’t know why you bother parking so far away.” 

“Don’t know why you bother to shift without a shirt handy,” he snipped back, but it was more good-natured than dry. 

She laughed, and Lee flashed a crooked smile at the familiar banter and felt the first few raindrops begin to fall. 

“I wasn’t followed?” He asked her, pressing the plans close to his chest to protect them from the scattered drops.

“Nothing else around for miles,” Thelma replied, her drawl pronounced in the dark. “Except for rabbits.” 

Lee reassessed the color of the mud splatter he’d seen on her and kept quiet, not fond of the reminder that he was indeed a rabbit entering a den of wolves. 

Yet, he was not the only rabbit in the den. Jeanette was on the porch to great them herself, belly rounder than when he’d last seen her. 

She was an intimidating woman, but more out of necessity as the human counterpart to the head of the family than in actual disposition. Her husband may be the eldest wolf, but Jeanette was the one in charge. Her intensity intertwined well with her sugar-coated southern hospitality. 

She aimed that intensity to the person directly to the right of Lee, but before she could speak Thelma grumbled. “I know I know, I’ll go wash up, quit fretting.” 

She peeled off and disappeared around the side of the house, and Jeanette smiled at Lee, a little more warmly as he approached. 

She ushered him under the awning of the porch, and he took his hat off to hold it to his chest. “My lord Mrs. Marshall, you look simply radiant. The next little monster is due soon isn’t he?” 

“Next month God willing,” she replied. “It’s good to see you Lee, you’re just in time for dinner.” 

“I appreciate the hot meal.” 

“Go on inside,” she said, opening the door with a knowing tone to her voice. “There’s a seat made for you next to Theodore.” 

He turned so she wouldn’t see his blush and hung up his hat and coat. The single story ranch home wasn’t huge, and-- like every time he visited-- he found himself tripping over the Marshalls everywhere he stepped. This time it was Ethel, chasing down her son Billie. The kid was a lopping bundle of fur right now, crashing into table legs and adult legs, puppy paws too big for him still. 

One of his uncles, Vincent, scooped him up and dumped him into the arms of his brother in law. “I know he’s got sharper teeth like this Mike, but don’t be afraid to wrangle him.” 

Ethel’s human husband, Micheal, gave Vincent a dry look. “I’m not gonna wrangle him if I could teach him some manners-- like people only at the supper table.” He held the puppy up at eye level. “Billie.” 

The puppy gave a sharp whine and changed back into a squirming toddler. “But  _ Pa.” _  Ethel wrapped her naked son up in a blanket while smiling apologetically at Lee. “Hiya Lee, sorry about the commotion.” 

“Water under the bridge Ethel, I know how kids are.” 

Vincent and Micheal came up to hug him, and Vincent slipped him a cigar with a grin. It wasn’t the first time supplier’s tried to get on his good side, but he couldn’t help but feel that it was genuine. He knew their two most heavily guarded secrets, and still had a seat at the table, which he stood behind now, papers left behind in his coat, as he watched the family come together. 

Thelma strolled through the door in hand-me-down men’s shirt and trousers, wet hair in wild curls around her shoulders. She winked at Lee and claimed the seat across from him. Ethel and Micheal came back and stood with a now-clothed Billie between them. 

Lois had gone back and forth from the kitchen, placing bowls of stew and fresh bread at each chair, pausing only to accept a kiss on the cheek from Vincent. Earnest helped Jeanette to the head of the table, their young daughter Sophie close behind. 

In the chaos of 11 people finding their seats, Lee found that he’d been snuck up on, Theodore’s sudden warmth at his side a welcoming blanket. There was a small tap on his rear and a cheshire grin and Theo was in his world again, brown eyes dark, with flecks of gold a prospector would take a shine to. 

“Welcome Home,” he murmured, and that was all he could say, because Earnest was tapping the edge of the table with his spoon.

“To the Lord and to the Moon,” he rumbled, signalling grace, “we give our thanks, for the gift of our farm and food, for our family and friends, for our fur and freedom, and for another day on this Earth. Bless us dear Lord, Amen.” 

As they repeated  _ Amen _ back, Jeanette sat first, carefully breaking off a piece of bread. The silence in the house made the soft buzz of the drizzling rain all the more prominent as she took a bite. She smiled fondly from the head of the table, and Lee always felt like time was suspended in this moment, of a matriarch looking over her pack. 

“Sit,” she ordered gently, and the chairs were wrenched back in ear splitting scrapes, chaos restored once more. 

“What’s the city like?” Thelma asked immediately, before Lee had even picked up his spoon. 

“Busy and crowded, like always,” he replied. “And business is steady since a shop across the river got raided.” 

“You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that raid now would ya Lee?” Lois asked lightly. 

“Of course not,” Lee said, putting a hand to his heart. “I’m but a simple middle man, I wouldn’t dare dream of having competitor secrets.” 

Earnest humphed from all the way at the other end of the table, and leaned towards Lee, deep set eyes staring him down. “Now Mr. Luciano you look at me good an proper and tell me you don’t smell like gunpowder. I know ye tried to hide it from us but ain’t nobody fooled this nose in 40 years.” 

Lee could only shrug goodnaturedly as both Theo  _ and  _ Thelma  _ and  _ Vince all leaned into his personal space. 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Vince said. “What would that be from, three, four days ago?” 

“I’d say two days, tops.” Thelma said, “he had to wash a lot because of the blood.” 

“That’s my boy,” Theo said, sharp teeth glinting in a wide grin. “I knew you’d take care of us.”

“It wasn’t any real trouble,” Lee said, their admiration filling his lungs like warmth smoke, despite the flashes of memory darkening his mental horizon. Images of rain slick alleys, and dark stains like oil dripping from his carseat passed through his mind like a train, and he smiled through it, ducking down to eat his stew in what he hoped looked like an embarrassed flush. “It’s just part of the job.” 

He agreed to go over the plans after they ate, and listened attentively as Theo taked about the horses he so dearly loved, while Theo’s siblings and stepsiblings interrupted to update him about what he’d missed since he’d last been there a month ago. 

There were stories of full moon hunts and an extremely brief gopher infestation and the time Vince fell into the river, and he laughed so hard he cried, and it was all so sickeningly domestic it made Lee’s teeth hurt. 

He never felt more at home, and yet, he also never felt more lonely than when he stayed with the Marshalls. 

It just made him more set on his decision, and he turned to Theo when the rest of the table was distracted, placing a hand gently on his lover's thigh. 

"I want out," he said, and he saw Theo's face snap to his, eyes wide. "I want out," he repeated firmly. "And I need your help." 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Twitter at Kearatheshadow.


End file.
